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Damen (Blue)
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I consider myself a generous soul...every new place I go to starts off with 5 stars. It just happens to be the responsibility of the place to stay at 5 stars.
So, 5 stars to the nice exterior at La Fonda, comfortably hip interior, nice greeting by the hostess. 5 stars for the speedy delivery of an ice bucket for our beer.
But then I start to get nervous. It takes a very long time for the chips & salsa to arrive. The Guacanachos Andy wanted to try were literally six tiny tortillas on a plate with some toppings. (Lovely and quite delicious but $6.95 for that? um, no)
[slips to 4 stars]
My entree, the fish tacos, looked so promising, but the flavoured mayo they used on top (I forget what kind it was) was applied with too heavy a hand and that ended up being all you could taste. Way too much mayo. Even with liberal additions of the salsas provided (which BTW the red was nice, the green was a tad flavourless), neither the fish flavour nor the coleslaw on top came through.
[slips to 3 stars...aww]
Service was OK, no complaints there, but I can go anywhere for a pretty dining room and good service. I wish they would focus a bit more on the food and why some of the prices seem wildly out of whack compared to other things.
Hmm.
I want to give this place more stars than I'm going to, but they recently changed the menu. I don't have any issue with the prices going up seeing as how they have food here that I really, really like and end up craving, but pretty much any category of a food item listed on the menu DOESN'T HAVE A CHICKEN OPTION. I'm really confused. I've been to lots of Mexican places and all of them have a chicken option. I do appreciate, however that they have many options for the same type of an item ie) Al pastor burrito, steak burrito.
The waitstaff is fairly friendly although Jose and Wesley go out of their way to make me feel welcomed whenever I'm there. I remember on my first visit there, Jose graciously suggested something else that was similar to what I originally wanted to order. (I know the suggestive selling tactic because I work retail, but I really couldn't say no to him because he was so convincing and genuine about it - and it ended up being the chicken huraches dish that I was absolutely addicted to!) He's definitely one of the best servers they have there. He is so friendly and so nice - an absolute gem.
That being said:
This was a go-to place for me to get Mexican food since one of my favorite, "classier" Mexican places, La Magarita in the Presidential Towers closed but if there is no chicken option, then they can say goodbye to me as a customer. {No, I'm not being picky I just can't eat steak, pork, or other heavy meats because they make me physically sick in large quantities.}
Weirdly enough, they do offer more expensive meats on the menu to compliment your food like duck and steak. I don't know if they're trying to accomplish higher prices with these choices or what, but it's not going to be a hit.
While I was there today I witnessed, another couple walk out due to the fact that they had changed the menu to virtually no chicken items. My boyfriend and I were about ready to walk out as well, but they made a few concessions for us since they see us there all the time. Let's not forget that a co-worker of mine refused to order anything from them today due to his item being off the menu as well.
What was about 3-4 different items on the menu I ordered on a regular basis, I now can only order one which is the fish tacos. (Big sad face.)
I'm definitely going to miss the tostadas and huaraches on my lunch breaks since I work right down the street.
If they start offering chicken items once again, I will go back there because I really like how fresh and not overly-seasoned everything tastes. {If you want more of a kick, I recommend using their homemade sauces. } I also liked that virtually everything here was homemade and of quality.
So in one day, I saw them lose about 4 customers including me which is sad because this place really has potential.
I really love Mexican food and it was a huge disappointment for me to have this happen. I was in here at least once, sometimes twice a week ordering food from them and would let people know who came into my work about this place whenever they asked about places to eat.
I feel like customers would be willing to pay slightly higher prices for food they know and love already.
It has been three days since my visit to La Fonda and I still don't know what to make of it. Other than the Chips and Salsa, this place was about as Mexican as the St. Patrick's Day parade.
We started out with the Guacanacho appetizer. The Guacanachos consisted of six chips that were topped with Cheese, and Guacamole. Six Freaking Chips? Child Please!!!
For my Entree, I ordered the Chicken wrapped in Chorizo. The plate was decorated beautifully, but the portions were Billy Barty sized. For the price that La Fonda was charging, I expected a little more.
The one impression that I get from La Fonda is that they are concentrating more on style than substance. Whether it's a high end Mexican place, or a Taco Stand in Pilsen, Mexican dining is all about the food. It's about the wonderful sauces and marinated meat. In my opinion, La Fonda missed the Target on what Mexican food is all about.
The bottom line is that you have a boat load of choices when it comes to Mexican food, and you can do a lot better than La Fonda.
La Fonda can sure make a decorative plate, but the food leaves a lot to be desired.
Way too gentrified for my liking, but they DO have a bomb chicken torta. I'd go back for that again, but everything else (especially their chorizo) is just all wrong. 2 stars for the yummy torta, as well as 1 for having an awesome wait staff. Besides that... Meh. Go to a real Mexican restaurant!
This was only "meh" for sure. Would I come back? Meh, maybe. Was the food good? Meh, it was alright. The empanadas were pretty good. I would make them a meal if I ever went back. My mole enchiladas were OK but I wasn't very impressed. The hubby had the chile relleno en ahogada (meat stuffed poblano pepper with cream sauce) which sounded better than it actually was. The apple dessert was tasty enough. The only thing I was really excited about were the tasty duo of salsas served with the chips. Writing this review is making me feel "meh" so I'll stop it here. But first let me say, stop in if you're in the neighborhood but don't go out of your way to get here.
I just moved to the neighborhood and wanted a chill place for Saturday night dinner. Found La Fonda del Gusto on Yelp and decided it'd suit. (Does anyone else think Napoleon Dynamite when pronouncing the name of this lovely restaurant?)
I think the thing about most restaurants that I dislike is having to pay ten-fifteen bucks for a huge plate of food I'm only eating sixty percent of. I hate waste! So I was delighted to see that I could get a tostada for 2.99 and then add rice & beans for another 2.99. Bam. Six-dollar dinner. And I ate just about everything. Perfect.
-- Revision: I think I got the lunch menu that time - on my second visit there were only your usual $8-15 dinner plates ... still delicious, but not what I was hoping for. --
Other pluses: not crowded at 7:30 on Saturday. Lots of attention from waiters. Free bottle opener AND ice bucket for our Two Brothers' brew. Lots and lots of delicious chips. And they let us hang out and finish the rest of our beer before heading out.
I'll be coming here again, and I totally recommend it!
If this place can live up to its name "House of Taste", then I won't have to give them only 2 stars. Seriously, they don't even deserve 2 stars. However, I gave them one extra star for the BYOB part.
Food is horrible -- nothing has taste to it. A bunch of us ordered the red snapper and that fish was as hard as a piece of stone. I barely ate 1/3 of mine. The flank steak my friends ordered had no taste either and it was extremely chewy -- sign of cheap meat. They gave us 6 tortillas -- 4 corn and 2 wheat for 11 of us. We did ask for refill but they never came. A bag of El Milagro Corn Tortilla only costs (12 ct) only 32 cents. Seriously, how cheap can they be by giving us not even 1 tortilla per person?
Service sucks -- our waiter was either new or he simply didn't care since he would be getting 18% tips from our table. He never came back once to ask us how our entrees were. He did come back to give us the dessert menu. The restaurant was not packed at all but the service was super duper slow. We got there at 7:30 and we didn't get to finish until 10ish. It took them almost an hour to bring us the entrees and then another half an hour or so for desserts. He never refilled our chips basket -- I literally went over to get them myself but there was a little boy (he was about 8 at the most who was busing table -- Child Labor) saw me with the 2 empty baskets and he went to get the chips for me instead.
I am definitely being a bit more critical about this specific restaurant since it was highly recommended by one of our gfs cuz she knows the owner and she's been bragging about how good the food was. I guess since she knows the owner -- she probably gets some sort of special treatment. Oh well....
I had heard great things about this place, and was excited for some good Mexican food, especially since it's BYOB. I booked a Friday night reservation for a girls night with 7 friends. I called two more times that week after I made the reservation, to confirm and make sure I knew what to expect since I was organizing for a group.
Let's just say I was LESS than pleased when I showed up, with all of my friends, and our reservation had "somehow been scratched out". What?! The hostess acted clueless and was less than helpful. Finally some other girl came out to tell us that she wasn't sure what had happened, that they couldn't reach the guy I had spoken to THREE times that week, and that they would not be able to accommodate us.
I can understand that mistakes happen, but the way the restaurant treated us, and the fact that my thrice-confirmed reservation was mysteriously "scratched out" means I'll never try to make another reservation there.
I cant beleive the other poor reviews. I thought this place was great - for brunch anyway. I had the chorizo with beans. I twas a hearty breakfast perfect on a rainy Sunday morning after a night of drinking. The beans came in a thick sauce with chorizo (could have been more spicy), cilantro and onion and two fried eggs. This meal kept me full for the next 8 hours! The brunch came with a red salsa and a salsa verde, both delicious and fresh.
The restaurant is BYOB and they had a few mixers such as bloody mary mix because who wants to drag all that crap into a place to get a bloody bloody mary.
I would love to go back and try it for dinner or lunch.
Excellent dining experience...soft shell tacos were out of this world..desserts were awesome...they make you feel special start to finish..thought my waiter could have been MUCH better ....but defiantly worth going.
The enchilada is my standard for judging a place that serves Mexican food. Unfortunately, La Fonda Del Gusto did not have a good enchilada.
I stopped by the restaurant around 2:45 PM on a Friday afternoon, obviously between the lunch and dinner times. The restaurant was nicely painted with the muted tones of reds, golds, and browns. I was seated promptly and placed my order right away, since I was there to try the enchiladas.
The complimentary chips and salsa were fine. My side of guacamole looked and tasted fresh. The beans and rice were pretty standard.
The enchiladas were made with a dark mole sauce and topped with Chihuahua cheese and looked pretty good. However, the chicken in my enchiladas was dry and not easy to chew. I had to pull out a few pieces because they were too hard. I surmised that the cubed chicken had been cooked around lunchtime and then sat in a heated serving container (drying out) before it was put into my meal a few hours later. The beef enchiladas were about the same (cubed beef, not ground beef), but maybe not as dry. Overall, the mole sauce was the only flavor.
Rarely do I not finish a dinner of enchiladas, but this time was an exception. I just did not enjoy the food.
Aside from that, the service was good and quite friendly, chips and salsa were good, and the bathroom was very clean. Just not a place to go if you're looking for the best enchilada.
I feel really bad giving this place two stars, but "Meh, I've experienced better" is pretty much the perfect sumation for my experience.
Walking in, we thought the place has such promise. The cookie dessert on display near the entrance looked amazing. It was busy but they were still able to get us in right away at 7 on a Saturday with no reservations. Our waiter was very friendly and helpful and quickly brought a bucket to chill our beers. It's BYOB with no corkage fees and reasonably priced ($5-$7 for apps, $8-$15 for entrees).
We settled on the sopa appetizer and the chicken flauta appetizer with added rice and beans ($2.99 to add) to make it a meal. We also got a small side of guac ($2, as opposed to the $7 app). It was all pretty mediore.
The sopa appetizer was described as doughy pillows topped with queso fresco, potatoes, and spicy chorizo. The sopa ended up being flattened and fried, which made it very tough, and topped with everything. But it was all piled too high so you couldn't eat it like a nacho chip. We basically ate the toppings with a fork and discarded the sopas.
The chicken flautas were also dissapointing. The beans were a little too solid for me (I like to be able to dip my chips in the beans) but my husband liked them. We always forget to order flautas with flour tortillas so it's partially our fault, but we found the corn tortillas the flautas were rolled in to be really chewy and tough to eat.
My husband ordered the dessert (since it looked so good in the entrance window) hoping it would redeem the meal. No such luck. The sweet corn ice cream was amazing, but I hate when the menu says nothing about fruit being on the dessert and it comes out drizzled in fruit sauce. Even without that annoyance, the cookie was dissappointing. We were anticipating a soft, chewy complement to the ice cream. We got a rock hard, brittle cookie that we needed a steak knife to saw through.
Our appetizer, guac, entree and dessert only came out to $26 with tax so the prices are low, but the food was also low on flavor and quality. As much as I wanted to like it, I just didn't.
simple mexican with a home-made feel. its not groundbreaking, but its solid, inexpensive and byob.
Food was good, price point was great. BYOB too which is always nice. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here again but if I was passing by, and had a craving for homemade chorizo and/or corn ice cream (yep, corn), I'd definitely stop in. Service was good, space was clean.
i had friends in town who suggested we go to "La Fonda Del Gusto" for dinner. i'm not gonna lie, i was very impressed with the decision after reading the review on yelp. i trust my yelp! i spent a good amount of time trying to talk them into any other Mexican joint... i lost.
anyway, i was VERY HAPPY to be proven wrong. La Fonda had some great menu options. i shared chicken tacos and a burrito. the rice was very good too. ONE WORD: GUACANACHOS. holy heaven. they were amazing. get them. you can thank me later. the chips are pre-loaded with deliciousness. your taste buds will have a orgy porgy in your mouth.
La Fonda Del Gusto is also BYOB! with NO CORKING FEE! amazing. we brought tequila, Coronas and tequila mix. they were kind enough to provide, ice, salt and glasses! They also kept our Coronas cool in a bucket of ice for us on the table.
lastly, we had a table of 10 and they split up our checks for us separately! it's such an tedious, annoying task and they did it for us with a smile. they won my heart over with that last move. :) we will certainly be back!
This is a good BYOB. Actually, it's a good Mexican restaurant that happens to also be BYOB. A more modern style of casual Mexican is served here. And they do a good job at it. Everything we had was really tasty, and service was good. The desserts were fairly mediocre, but weren't all in all too offensive. I went with a large party for a friend's birthday and we were sat in the back room. Only complaint is that It was EXTREMELY LOUD back there, as there was another large party back there too. I might suggest that the management look into some rugs to offset the extreme noise in that room. It was intense and biting. Overall delicious eats though - and can't wait to try again!
Great new place! Conveniently located 1 block from my house!
Don't be fooled, if you just glance in the front window...it's a lot bigger than it looks, the restaurant is really nice and is lined with booths in back, and has a really nice back room, that would be great for a private party or large group.
Our waitress was really nice, though maybe a bit heavy on the recommendations (only because I actually felt a bit guilty when I didn't order the things she said were the best...)
The prawn dish was awesome, my husbands dish of red snapper was perfect, and definitely the table favorite. My friend got vegetarian dishes with they said were great (and they are Mexican food aficionados)
I really enjoyed the salsa and the guacnachos! Great appetizer to share.
And...it's BYOB! Score!
Prices reasonable, obviously fish and meat more expensive, but I thought it was totally worth it. As much as I love BYOB, a margarita would have gone perfect with everything...so, maybe eventually they'll get that, and I'll rave even more!
I'm super bummed I didn't like this place since it's so close to where I live.
The food was basic at best and while not TERRIBLE, it's not very good. There are so many good restaurants out there, including Mexican ones, and I will not waste my time or money here again.
I saw this in my Daily Candy email and was excited to try it. It looks super cute and small from the store front, but in reality it stretches quite far back and has a lot of seating. It's cute inside, and nice than I expected, with plush, roomy booths throughout.
The menu is great. The first page has lots of ~$6 options, with things like tacos and burritos, soups and salads. Then the second page has $10-15 platters like enchiladas, chicken, and fish dishes. The meat selection was great, and I can vouch that both the chorizo and el pastor (pork) were great.
The service was good, although the place wasn't too crowded on day 3 of it's existence, so that may change. They bring out complimentary chips and salsa right away, which I think is great considering the menu items aren't that expensive.
I believe the grand opening of this restaurant is either tonight or tomorrow night, but a friend of mine invited me along for a little "dress-rehearsal" they held this weekend.
It was a really great idea actually - they did a full run-through with guests of friends and family, as a way to see what did and didn't work. So bear in mind that this review is not totally based on the finished product, and some things may very well have already changed based on the feedback they received.
The service itself was friendly and prompt and the decor of the restaurant was simple, yet bright and warm. We were told to order and appetizer, salad, and two desserts to share with the table and we each ordered our own entree. The quesedilas were good, but nothing going on that would set them apart from any other quesedillas. I really enjoyed the fajita salad and the pina colada cake was fantastic.
As far as the main dishes were concerned, they scored a 2/4. My fish was delicious, as was my one friend's steak dish. Another friend ordered the fajitas, which were a little over-cooked, and my last friend got a very dry chicken dish.
It is (or at least was this weekend) BYOB, which I ALWAYS consider a huge plus! I don't know that I will find everything here delicious, but I could certainly go again and pick a few items I know will be good off the menu. The prices were not too insane either. I would say they were reasonable for the dishes that were good, but they would have to bring the more sub-par dishes up in quality a bit.
I look forward to going back and seeing what they changed/made a little better, but a good start. I hope they do well.
"Meh" pretty much sums this place up for me.
With all the BYOB and mexican restaurants in this great city, I see no reason to ever return to La Fonda Del Gusto. Everything about LFDG was mediocre. Even though it's a new restaurant, it was near empty at 7:30 (never a good sign in my opinion), the wait staff was awkward, and of all the things I tried on the menu, nothing stood out as being that good. The chicken in my tacos didn't even taste like chicken and it was tough and dry. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because they had nice bathrooms, it's BYOB and was moderately priced.
After reading about this place on Daily Candy like so many other Yelpers, I thought this would be the perfect spot for five friends and I to celebrate a friend's visit in town. I mean, quite simply, BYOB + Mexican + Wicker Park = a dream come true.
Until we sat down, that is.
Since we were a group of six, they seated us in the back of the restaurant amongst the other large groups. The walls are brick, so any sound coming from the other groups was amplified. This was especially unpleasant when all us former roommates wanted to catch up, but had to shout over the rowdy bachelorette party in the corner who brought a handle of tequila into the place.
As for food, we ordered guacamole that arrived 30 minutes after we ordered. The excuse we were given was that the kitchen was backed up. Now, I realize this restaurant just opened, but how long does it take to put some pre-made guacamole into a bowl? Also, a friend and I ordered fajitas that WERE NOT SEASONED. Granted, the veggies were extremely fresh, but isn't the whole point of fajitas to have seasoning?
I give this place 3 stars for the BYOB and the pineapple cake dessert. I'd be curious to try it again after it's been around for awhile, and they've worked out the kitchen kinks and structural soundproofing.
I have been here twice so far and both times the food has been terrific. The first time I ordered the Tampiquena (skirt steak with cheese enchilada) which was one of the best I have ever had. The steak was definitely of high quality and the chile butter was also a very nice touch. The mole sauce was awesome. The second time I ordered the Milanesa which was also very delicious. Awesome Horchata!! My wife and I shared the Champurrado (really fancy ice cream sandwich) and it was fantastic. Made it onto our list of all time favorite desserts.
This is a great place with great food and reasonable prices. Also, BYOB. It will definitely be going on our list of favorite restaurants.
I REAALLLY wanted to like this place more than I did.
They started off great with their staff being uber friendly and helpful and on a Saturday night with no reservations, they had us sat at a lovely booth in mere minutes.
The place is BYOB so I have to tack on some stars right there but the early morning diner lighting is KILLING me. No seriously, I had just gotten a chemical peel a day and half before and it was not working in my favor. The place could easily be 3 notches cooler if they just installed a dimmer switch.
Our server was okay... he was nice but had to check all 3 of the table members orders several times. I would order the app, next table member would order, then he'd check my order (which was just nachos- no special instructions), then he'd get the next table members order, then check the app order again... then leave the table, come back- still want nachos? Yes. The come back again to check how one person wanted their steak cooked, 15 minutes later to another table member- you wanted chicken, right? No, avocado. Suggestion: mandatory pen and paper until you're familiar with the menu and get the remembering thing down.
I didn't know that they'd only been open a week so I could let stuff that slide but the flaws didn't end there. Our server asked if we wanted more tortilla chips, a table member enthusiastically says yes... he never brings them. My veggie fajitas come and I have no plate. Oh, when our app came we also had no plates and no extra napkins for our finger food. A little frustrating. Anyway, my friends husband asks for the chips and a plate and our server apologizes and makes up for it by bring me two plates... I don't know either, I really only needed one but whatever.
Now on to the food. Perhaps the most disappointing? Yes, defo. The nachos were okay but there was no spice or originality to them... very American. My mushroom fajitas were NG- not good. Pretty much ALL onions, a few pepper slices and what had to have been one thinly sliced piece of canned mushroom sliced even thinner. It was almost insulting (and sad) how few mushrooms were there. Beyond the veggies, there were only 3 tortillas to make fajitas out of, and side plate with a ton of shredded lettuce, some beans, a quarter sized amount of pico de gallo and a nickel sized amount of sour cream. Boo. There, again, was no spice, no flavor, nothing- the fajita thing wasn't even sizzling when it came. My friend's husband got the skirt steak and I have to say that it looked truly delicious. My friend got the Hauch... okay, I don't remember exactly what it was called or how it was spelled but I think that's how it started... anyway, she chose avocado instead of meat on the thing and was greeted with 3 thin slices of avocado... less than a quarter of an avocado? Really? C'mon guys. I know there's a recession going on but if you can't afford to give people a fair amount of food, don't open your restaurant. PS- avocado's are 3 for a dollar at Jewel... more please. Oh, and she didn't get the sour cream she ordered.
My friend's husband had to take off after dinner and my friend and I are never ones to pass up dessert. We got the cookie thing and the server made gratuitous jokes about how it was so good that he was going to bring an extra spoon for himself, we'd be lucky if he got it to the table without him taking a bite, etc. etc. etc. He was really pouring on the smarmy after my friends husband left... it was pretty annoying. I wasn't too impressed by the dessert but I like my cookies with a soft center and my desserts with no hint of lemon... I hate citrus baked goods... my friend loved it though so it's just a matter of opinion. If I went back I would defo get a different dessert because they had quite a few that looked pretty good. Oh, and our server stopped my our table no less than 9 times after we got the cookie thing as well. Making jokes about eating our dessert, pulling out his spare spoon, ugh... I'm over it, Guy. I waited tables for many years so you're already going to get a 20% tip, now lay off.
Anyway, Our experience was pretty meh. I want to give the food a 2, not that it was bad but it was forgettable and def something I could have conjured up at home. The staff there, besides that our waiter was a little over enthusiastic toward the end, was very nice. They've got a good crew, especially for a place that just opened. I wouldn't make plans to eat here but if someone suggested it I'd go back and bring lots of wine.
OK is about the most you can say for La Fonda. Nothing terribly bad happened on either of the two times I've been there: the food was solid but not inspiring, the service was prompt, and the interior is clean without being offensive.
I might go back of my own accord, but if a group had chosen to head there, I definitely wouldn't protest. There were plenty of vegetarian options, including a very nice poblano/portobello filling for the tacos, salads, and burritos. I would have liked to have seen fish as a filling for the tacos, too.
On the definite plus side, the tab came out to about $15/person, owing to the wonders of BYOB. And I liked the "virgin" drinks they sell you where you can simply add your own rum or tequila. Very nice touch.
I did not have the best experience at this brand-new Wicker Park restaurant, but I left a happy customer thanks to the manager, who very generously comped my and my friend's meal.
It was Day 2 of the restaurant being open, which also happened to be Cinco de Mayo. We walked in and were seated immediately at the last open table for two. The staff was very friendly and eager to please--and, apparently, they're BYOB, so take note and bring some Mexican beer. We ordered, I the wild mushroom enchiladas, and my friend, the huarache with skirt steak (a pressed corn-masa patty filled with bean paste and topped with lettuce, cheese, etc.). We munched on complementary chips and salsa--which were pretty good, but not homemade--for awhile before we realized that our food was taking a long time. Like, close to an hour long. Our server assured us the food was coming soon, and it did, except I took a bite out of one of my enchiladas and realized my food was cold. It took a few minutes for them to warm it up again, and in the meantime I tried my friend's huarache, which was quite good, sort of like a tostada, and super cheap ($5.99, plus $.50 for avocado, and for $2.99 you could make it a meal with rice and beans).
Despite being warm, my meal wasn't amazing. The mushrooms were in large pieces that didn't cut well and weren't juicy and didn't mesh well with the sauce, which was slightly spicy and brown and not like the enchilada sauces I've had before. They gave me a lot of food for $10.99, but I would probably stick with the a la carte items in the future.
So, when the manager heard we weren't very happy with the wait and the cold food, he said he would take care of the meal for us, and offered dessert. It was their second day open, and Cinco de Mayo, so I'm confident service will improve as they're open longer. For desert we ordered another traditional dish, according to our server, which consisted of sweet corn ice cream in between two warm cinnamon infused chocolate cookies with lime crème angles. It was delicious, and quick, and the correct temperature.
I'm not too fonda La Fonda. There were some 5 star aspects (service, overall friendliness of the staff, some of the ingredients) but a big ugly 1 or 2 star on the flavor of the food.
All was going relatively well until we got our entrees. Omar, our server was completely charming. He knew the menu well and pointed out several recommendations. The chips were fresh and I really liked the salsas - they had a very natural freshness to them. But then we got a hurrache, which was just OK - a little underwelming....and both of our entrees were pretty much inedible to us. My wife got the enchiladas, which had a really bitter cinnamon sauce all over them that looked like caked on poop - maybe this is more authentic, I don't know but neither of us could stomach more than one bite. I got the snapper, which was covered in tomato sauce and whole olives. Olives all over the place, and not in slices or anything - just big, raw olives cut in half that seemed to be stuffed with capers. Way overboard on the olives. Plus my dish reeked of bad fishy smell, even though the fish looked like a good, fresh meaty cut. Couldn't get more than few bites of this down either.
I feel like like this place could make good food, but the chef just got out of control a bit on those two dishes. The tortillas were real good, the ingredients all seemed to be real fresh. We just didn't like the flavor combos the chef put together. I didn't think mexican food could vary that wildly in flavor but really both of these dishes were virtually inedible to us.
So I give it 3 stars mostly because of Omar and the staff, and that I think the place has promise. Every member of the staff kindly thanked us on our way out, so despite our experience with the food I couldn't bring myself to 2 start the place. Probably won't be going back very soon though, I can't get the taste of those dishes out of my mind just yet.
I'm really excited with this place. It's around the corner, so finally a mexican place worth walking to. Very resonable price-wise. We got the flautas and the guaconachos (carry-out), both were excellent. Their beans and rice were very average though, which is why they're not getting 5 stars. I know those are just "sides" but if you're going to get 5 stars everything has to be perfect. The ambiance seems nice, though unlike the rest of the wicker park restaurants you're far away from the street (seating is in the back), so definitely no streetside "cafe" feel. I'm excited to go back and dine in and try some of their entrees. They don't open until 3:30pm and it's BYOB, both will probably change as time goes on.
I was actually here twice last week- once for carryout (my boyfriend and I both got burritos, mine was mushroom/avocado and his was chicken--both were reasonably priced, delicious, and enormous.), and once on Friday for a BYOB dinner with a group of friends. It was really a perfect dinner. Our waiter was super efficient and friendly and quickly brought us ice buckets for the fairly ridiculous number of wine/liquor bottles we brought. We ordered the "guacanachos", the chorizo/cheese dip, and guacamole for the table and all were great- especially, in my opinion, the chorizo/cheese. I ordered the flank steak with an enchilada which was INCREDIBLE, and I also tried the chicken topped with a pepper and chorizo- possibly the best mexican entree I've ever tried. Everyone else seemed happy too. I am thrilled that this place is my neighbor.
SERVICE- friendly and quick but did not handle a service failure well.
COMPLIMENTARY CHIPS & SALSA- chips were slightly above average and warm. green salsa had more flavor than red salsa.
APPETIZERS- shrimp and scallop ceviche had good fresh ingredients including very tender scallops but the flavor was a bit bland.
ENTREES- chicken with chorizo did not meet expectations because the chicken was bland, dry and tasted as if it had been pan-fried by an amateur. The accompanying rice and beans were average.
CHICKEN WITH MANGO- came out as all dark meat and I was surprised as I didn't remember reading that on the menu. The waiter said yes it did indeed say dark meat. I did my best to eat some of it but really couldn't because it was lumpy and fatty. The waiter came back when he saw that I wasn't eating and said that I was right and it didn't say dark meat on the menu and that " now I know for next time." I was charged for the full plate of food I didn't eat. I didn't press the issue but I did let the hostess know on my way out.
OVERALL- La Fonda Del Gusto was probably not good enough to ensure a return visit and their handling of the service issue pretty much seals the deal that we wont.
I was excited to see this place open in the neighborhood and checked it out for dinner. We got seated right away on a Friday without a reservation. I ordered the guacamole to go with the complimentary chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were good but the guacamole was not. It was whipped and fluffy with no chunks of avocado and was an oddly bright green color. We tried the sopa and chorizo appetizer. This was fine, not much flavor and not at all spicy. The pork huaraches were ok, again not too much flavor. The chicken enchiladas with the mole were a big disappointment. The mole was tasteless and chicken in the enchiladas was dry and hard. We hoped that the cookie dessert would save the meal but it failed too. The cookie was rock hard and tasted like straight cinnamon. The sweet corn ice cream was too sweet and had no corn flavor. Overall the service was good and the prices are reasonable. BYO is a plus but the food was disappointing.
Went here for the first time after seeing the RedEye review. Arrived at around 7pm on Saturday and there was enough seating for us...about 45 mins passed and we noticed many people waiting for tables, so this place is definatly drawing a crowd. Very friendly service, waters were always filled, and after meeting one of the managers we felt right at home. We were disapointed that the margarita mixer wasn't available (they are stll perfecting the recipe) but it should be ready soon the manager mentioned. As this place is BYOB, I noticed a lot of really nice details, like offering metal buckets with ice for your beers (even when you're waiting for your table at the front), and glasses with limes if you bring your own tequila. Here are dishes to definatley try: the huaraches (we ordered as the appetizer but you can make as your meal too), queso chorizo appetizer and the pollo con chorizo mexicana entree. The chile rellenos were good but the poblano was not spicy at all and needed more sauce, which the kitchen was more than willing to provide more of. I did want the rellenos to have more "umph" though like maybe an option of having a seafood or meat stuffed inside. The two salsas that they gave at the beginning of the meal were very good, especially the verde. The flour tortillas were also very good - very puffy and moist, not like typical flat flour ones. We were way to stuffed for desert because of the two appetizers we had that sent us over the top...but they looked good! Even as stuffed as we were, the manager came by and gave us free sweet corn ice cream to try - such a nice gesture. So all in all, a great experience. We felt really comfortable there and since it's just right around the corner from where we live, we will definatly be back.
Come Eat and Enjoy Music
Neighborhood: North Park
Free Taco with Combo Order!
Neighborhood: Roscoe Village
